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Self-reflection as a crucial human activity involves assessing experiences and developing strategies to tackle challenges in language instruction and acquisition. It can be pursued through several methods. This study seeks to implement scenario-based assessment (SBA) model and dialogue journal writing (DJW) in an entire process to examine their impact on enhancing the writing self-reflection strategies of Iranian EFL learners. To achieve this objective, 60 EFL learners were selected through convenience sampling. These participants were then randomly divided into two experimental groups and one control group. The first experimental group underwent treatment using a SBA model, while the second experimental group followed the requirements of treatment through a DJW model. The control group, on the other hand, received instruction using a traditional teacher-centered method. Both the experimental groups and the control group underwent pre-test and post-test assessments to evaluate their writing performance. The gathered data were analyzed using MANCOVA and the findings revealed that the SBA group outperformed the DJW and control groups in terms of improving their writing self-reflection strategies.This study's results offer more evidence to show the positive impact of using a SBA design on the writing self-reflection skills of Iranian EFL learners as a whole. The study showed that the SBA approach had a greater impact on improving engagement in self-reflection and insight. The findings of this study suggest that SBA can generate higher levels of assistance and function to create a successful pedagogical tool as well as an assessment device for classroom teachers, experts, and parties involved.

The current study adopted a mixed-method design approach to investigate the effect of the integration of the TPS strategy instruction into reading lessons on EFL students’ motivation to read. One hundred twenty Iranian intermediate EFL students (60 male and 60 female), studying English in a language institute in Iran, were selected and randomly assigned to an experimental group (N = 60) and a control group (N = 60). The experimental group received ten sessions of reading instruction based on the TPS-integrated reading strategy proposed by Baker and Westrup (2000) whereas the control groups received the same amount of instruction on the same materials based on the traditional direct instruction method. Then, the students’ reading motivations were measured using the revised version of the Motivation for Reading Questionnaire (MRQ) (Wigfield & Guthrie, 1997). Besides, the students’ attitudes toward the TPS-integrated reading strategy instruction were examined by conducting a semi-structured interview. The analysis of the quantitative data showed no significant difference between the experimental and control groups in terms of reading motivation. It was also revealed that the integration of the TPS strategy in the reading lessons affected neither the students’ intrinsic motivation nor their extrinsic motivation. However, the findings of the interview concluded that the majority of the participants had developed positive attitudes toward the TPS. Regarding the motivation for reading, however, the findings of the interview were mixed. Finally, the study suggested some practical implications for EFL classrooms.

Teachers’ self-regulation (SR), which improves teaching practices, has not received due attention from EFL researchers. This mixed-methods study aimed to examine the SR strategies and teaching effectiveness of English language teachers in Iranian universities and institutes located in three Iranian cities. The first sample of this study comprised 172 EFL teachers (128 males and 44 females) from different socioeconomic backgrounds. Their ages ranged from 23 to 55 years old. The majority of them majored in the different branches of English—English literature (5 BAs, 30 MAs, 10 PhDs), English teaching (10 BAs, 50 MAs,16 PhDs), and English translation (7 BAs, 28 MAs, 16 PhDs). On the other hand, the second sample comprised 153 EFL learners, who were the students of the participating teachers (49 males and 104 females). The age range varied from 14 to 35, and they came from different socioeconomic backgrounds. A study was conducted Teachers completed a Teacher Self-Regulation Scale (TSRS) questionnaire to declare the types and frequency of SR strategies they used while the participating students completed the Characteristic of Successful Iranian EFL Teachers (CSIET) questionnaire, which included ten questionnaire items. According to the quantitative data analysis, SR strategies and teaching effectiveness were negatively correlated. Moreover, 20 EFL teachers were interviewed to determine their awareness of their teaching effectiveness. The study indicates that teachers were not familiar with SR strategies, which can negatively impact their teaching effectiveness. The findings of the study may have insights for teacher educators, administrators, and university teachers, highlighting the role of SR in EFL teaching effectiveness.

With the significant increase in academic publications and the growing emphasis on academic writing in recent years, the exploration of writers' authorial voice has become essential in the academic community. Therefore, the present study examined language learners’ preferences for the use of metadiscoursal elements of voice and the effectiveness of instruction in promoting the expression of authorial voice in academic writing among Iranian EFL learners. The participants were 143 intermediate English major university learners at Najaf Abad University of Isfahan who were randomly divided into a control group and two treatment groups. One group received explicit instruction and the other group received implicit instruction on the use of voice elements based on Hyland's (2005) interactional framework in the academic context. The control group did not receive any instruction on discourse markers. After an eight-session treatment, participants’ writings in the three groups were analyzed. The findings revealed that the treatment groups demonstrated a more significant improvement in their ability to express authorial voice compared to the control group. The group receiving explicit instruction utilized more stance markers compared to the group receiving implicit instruction. The findings highlight the importance of consciousness-raising in improving the use of discourse markers in academic writing.

As online learning gains popularity in educational settings, online exams have become efficient tools for evaluation. However, more research is needed on students' perceptions of online exams in developing countries like Iran. This study investigates the perceptions of 153 undergraduate students who have taken or are taking online general English courses at Yasouj and Shahrekord universities. The research aims to understand university students' perceptions of online English tests, including the ease and frequency of cheating, various forms of cheating, and reasons for cheating. A mixed-method approach was employed, incorporating interviews followed by a 19-item questionnaire. Parallel exams were conducted to compare students' performance. The analysis also examined differences in perceptions based on participants’ gender. The results indicate that cheating is easier and more prevalent in online exams than in traditional face-to-face exams. However, it does not occur more frequently in online English as a Foreign Language (EFL) exams than in other subject exams. The study identified various forms of cheating used by students and the reasons for cheating in online assessments. Additionally, gender was found to influence students' perceptions of cheating in online exams significantly. Based on these perceptions, strategies to combat cheating are proposed. The implications of this study are significant for educational stakeholders, particularly teachers and students, in their efforts to promote and maintain academic integrity.

The mushrooming of private bilingual schools (PBSs) in large cities of Iran highlights the importance of equipping English teachers in these schools with the required knowledge to hold high-quality English classes. In the absence of publications on the status of English language teaching (ELT) and hence English language teacher education (ELTE) practices in PBSs of Iran, the present inquiry was initiated to explore these neglected aspects in five PBSs in Tehran. In-depth semi-structured interviews with two principals, four English supervisors, and 16 English teachers were used for data collection. Thematic analysis of the data revealed how topics such as teaching methods, materials development, religious values, native and foreign cultures, technological literacy, English accents, use of mother tongue, and teacher reflection were perceived in teacher education practices of the selected schools. This finding can provide policymakers, school principals, English supervisors, and teachers with insights into the value of ELTE programs and the areas needing refinement.   

Despite being a popular topic in language testing, cognitive load has not received enough attention in vocabulary test items. The purpose of the current study was to scrutinize the cognitive load and vocabulary test items’ differences, examinees’ reaction times, and perceived difficulty. To this end, 150 students were selected using cluster/convenience-sampling, and took the Cambridge Placement Test (CPT) and Vocabulary Size Test (VST; Nation & Beglar, 2007). After uploading the vocabulary-size test’s items in PsychoPy software, there was a behavioral stage to measure students’ reaction times and correct responses. Out of these 150 high school students, a total of 60 (20 from each proficiency level of elementary/intermediate/advanced groups) were selected. In this quantitative study, all 60 students were interviewed to determine their perceived difficulty of the international VST items and their item’s difficulty-index. The data were analyzed quantitatively via simple regression and qualitatively through the examination of the students’ perceived difficulty. The results and interview findings revealed a significant connection between cognitive load/reaction time, difficulty estimate, and perceived difficulty at intermediate level. In contrast, at elementary and advanced levels, these variables could not predict the cognitive load. The findings can help to test, course, and syllabus designers by educating them on the significance of cognitive load theory so that they can base their exam designs on its premises and alleviate students' increased cognitive-workload.

Cet article s’interroge sur la traduction des métaphores politiques dans le discours diplomatique des hommes d’Etat iraniens au cours des deux périodes qui précédent et suivent le PAGC. En optant le modèle de la traduction des métaphores proposées par Hagström, cette étude vise à découvrir les méthodes et les stratégies de traduction que les traducteurs utilisent lorsqu’ils sont confrontés à des métaphores politiques venant des cartes conceptuelles éloignées. Il en ressort que pour les sphères sociolinguistiques éloignées (Iran vs pays occidentaux) tout un large éventail des stratégies est utilisé afin de restituer les allusions métaphoriques. En outre, il paraît que les stratégies de la traduction des métaphores politiques sont plus variées dans la période de Pré-PAGC, alors que durant la période de Post-PAGC les stratégies sont moins variées et elles se contentent de restituer une traduction littérale (reprise de la même métaphore de la culture source et sa restitution dans la langue-culture cible), réclamant ainsi une lecture plus active de la part des destinataires

In Jeff VanderMeer’s Annihilation, the way the Anthropocenic set of circumstances is narrated could not be easily explained away through giving precedence to either materialist or structuralist narratologists. In this sense, neither the materiality of the environment nor the arbitrary categories and models of structuralists such as Greimas could determine the ultimate narratological scheme with which one could make sense out of such set of circumstances. Only through modifying the extant narratological categories and models and exposing their arbitrariness via indicating their incapability to contain the formidable materiality of the environment, one could reach a workable semiotic framework for devising a narrative out of the anthropocenic set of circumstances. Reaching this framework would be the present study’s research objective. As its findings, the study recognizes that such a framework would not give the agency of devising narration to either non-human/environmental or human entities in the anthropocene, and at the same time will be the result of the uneasy, yet workable, coupling of these entities. This framework would also acknowledge the uncontainable nature of the environment in the anthropocene, and turn both human and non-human entities into mere actants that have no particular motivation. The study uses the modified narratological models of Algirdas Greimas and Amitav Gosh proposed by critics like Hanes Bergthaller, Marco Caracciolo and Jean Paul Petitimbert to reach this semiotic framework.